Hollow but Whole
by snappydog
Summary: A fic set in the Bleach universe using mostly OC's. A group of people who died a long time ago meet each other again... but now they're not on the same side. Or are they? Summary really sucks, makes it sound a bit more complex than it is.
1. Introductions

A/N: First off, a disclaimer as always. I don't own Bleach. This story is based largely on my own characters, but I don't own any I might use or the universe they live in.

Secondly, hello. This fic is not Bleach canon, some timings or whatever will undoubtedly not fit. It does contain some elements of the real Bleach plot, for example Aizen's betrayal happened in this timeline etc. You'll find out as you go along. Also, I use Japanese honorifics instead of English titles, for example 'taicho' instead of 'captain', as well as certain Japanese words. Look them up if you don't understand them.

And now… on with the story.

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'What's up?' Fudo Yamaguchi greeted.

'Who are you?' Momo Hinamori asked curiously, before her eyes widened in shock as she took in his clothing. 'Oh…'

'New Squad 5 Captain, Fudo Yamaguchi,' Fudo introduced.

'Squad 5 Lieutenant… Momo…'

'Hinamori-san. I've heard all about you.'

Momo fiddled briefly with her hairnet. 'Really?'

'Mm. A brilliant Kido master, I hear.'

'Well…' She blushed under the approving gaze of the attractive young (or so he appeared) captain.

'I think we're going to work very well together,' he told her, offering his hand.

'You don't want a new lieutenant?'

'Of course not, Hinamori-san. Why would I, when I have such an excellent candidate already filling the position?'

'Erm…'

Fudo grinned, placing a hand gently on her shoulder, just above her vice-captain's armband. 'Come on, I want to meet the rest of my new division.'

'Ye… Yes, Yamaguchi-taicho!'

----------

'How's it going, Shin-chan?'

'Don't call me that,' the leader of the Vizards groaned. 'But fine, thanks.'

Yoshifumi Nakajima grinned. 'What's Hiyori-chan doing?'

'Trying to upgrade her Hiyori Crappy Walker, I think.'

'Hiyori SUPER Walker!'

'Heh.'

The newest addition to the Vizards flash-stepped away from his unofficial superior, reappearing for a split second to kick Hiyori in the head before heading to Hachigen's side. 'How's the barrier holding?' he inquired, grinning as Hiyori screamed insults after him.

'Perfectly… of course,' Hacchi replied. 'Why?'

'Nothing. I just… thought somebody might have come after me by now.'

Hacchi hummed absently. 'Why?'

'No reason.'

----------

'So!' Fudo spluttered. 'Tell me about yourselves!'

The newest addition to the ranks of the Gotei 13's Captains was having a welcome party rather reminiscent of former captain Amagai's. Naturally, just like Amagai, he was completely drunk. Totally ratted out of his skull.

'Erm… well… we don't really have any Seats at the moment,' Hinamori explained. 'It's all been a bit disarrayed since…'

'S'okay. Course, with no captain and yourself in… no fit state to lead all this lot… musta been tough. 'S been 'ard on the rest of… mm… Captains too.'

'People even got transferred to other divisions,' Momo told him sadly.

Fudo scanned the room drunkenly. He recognised a few faces from around Seireitei, but didn't know anyone personally. 'Might bring in a couple of me old mates from Squad 9,' he slurred. 'Could do with some new seated offizers?'

Momo nodded, not sure what to make of this kind-hearted man who clearly couldn't hold his drink at all. He might even be more of a lightweight than Captain Amagai, whose skills, or lack thereof, in the drinking department were legendary.

'Whoosh,' Fudo muttered before collapsing face-first into a bowl of mushy rice and sake (he was extraordinarily uncoordinated in his present state, and eating rice with chopsticks was no easy task even when sober).

Momo sighed. 'I hope you're as nice as Captain Aizen,' she told Fudo quietly. 'Or… the man I thought Captain Aizen was.' A single tear blossomed in the corner of her eye; she blinked it away and straightened up, back to the businesslike self she'd had to be in Aizen's absence. 'You two! Take Yamaguchi-taicho to Squad Four, please!'

As two burly-looking shinigami lifted Fudo away, Momo caught a glimpse of his happy, rice-covered face. 'Yes,' she murmured. 'I think we'll work well together.'

----------

'Kenseiiiiii!' Mashiro pouted, only to be met with a bash in the face from Kensei's Hollow mask.

'How,' he groaned, 'can you be so irritating with a single word?!'

'Where's Berry-tan?' she asked loudly, brushing her former Captain's mask away casually.

'Ichigo? How am I supposed to know?'

'Mmmmmmmmmmmehmanum.'

'Why do you want to know anyway?'

'Miss him.'

Yoshifumi flash-stepped into the vicinity, snatching Kensei's Shikai-form Zanpakuto from his hand before he could kill Mashiro. 'S'up?'

Kensei growled viciously while Mashiro laughed at his expression. 'Berry-tan!' she yelped happily.

'He's in Hueco Mundo again,' Yoshifumi told her.

'How do you know?'

Yoshifumi gave a toothy grin, almost reminiscent of Shinji and Nnoitra. 'I still have some shinigami connections. My old lieutenant, for one, though he doesn't know it yet.'

'Oh, yeah. What was his name again? Fupo?'

'Fudo. He's Squad 5 now, transferred straight from 9.'

Kensei did a double-take. 'You were Squad 9's captain?'

'Mm. Same as you. Took over from Kaname a while after he left.'

'Bastard,' Kensei hissed.

'Hm?'

'Kaname.'

'Oh, good.'

Mashiro somehow managed to flash-step into an upside down position with her head between Kensei and Yoshifumi's faces. 'Why's Berry-tan in Hollow World?'

Kensei slapped her away with an audible crack.

'Oh, you know. Espada to kill,' Yoshifumi guessed.

'Could have taken us with him,' Kensei grumbled. 'I could do with a bit of exercise.'

There was silence for a few moments.

'Combat training?' Yoshifumi suggested.

Kensei grinned. 'Deal.'

----------

Hoshi Sakamoto knelt at the grave of her husband, a small flower in her hand. 'Sorry I haven't been for a while,' she said. 'Komet's been giving me trouble, you know. Says I should forget about you. But we both know you're still around, even if you won't come and see me.'

She smiled wryly. 'Why am I even speaking to your grave? I know exactly where you are, and… it's not here. I mean, really. You're a shinigami captain… oh - former, stuck in an untraceable gigai with the rest of the Vizards. Sorry. But really, Yoshifumi. You could at least come and visit once in a while.'

Something twitched in her pocket; she groaned but reached in and pulled out a small diamond. 'Zeige Dich, Komet.'

As her Doll emerged, black and shimmering with the light of a thousand stars in its eyes, she made a face towards the grave.

'You lazy bastard!' Komet yelled.

'Keep it down…'

'She comes here EVERY WEEK even though she knows you're not here, and you can't even come to see her ONCE?! In all the three centuries we've been here?!'

'Komet…'

'You're THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY TWO YEARS OLD, AND YOU'VE BEEN DEAD FOR THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY OF THEM! YOU'VE NOT VISITED ONCE!'

Hoshi rolled her eyes towards her husband's headstone. 'She's always like this nowadays,' she informed the stone exasperatedly. 'C'mon, back you come.'

'I HATE YOU ANYWAY, I DON'T CARE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE ME, BUT HER?! YOU LAZY, STUPID DI -' Komet cut off mid-word as she shrunk back into her glittering diamond form.

'Don't worry about her. She's just a bit argumentative by nature.'

Hoshi stored her sealed Doll in her pocket, carefully placing the flower in her other hand at the bottom of the headstone. Quickly peeling some moss from the stone, she got to her feet and left.

----------

Akiyama Ishii gripped the Hollow's mask tightly. 'Sorry about this,' he hissed. 'Just a bit hungry.'

The Hollow screamed as its mask shattered, revealing part of its face below. Akiyama hoisted the pseudo-Arrancar towards his own face. Neatly pulling back the part of his mask fragment that covered his left jaw, the newly appointed Quinto Espada took a gigantic bite out of the hapless creature.

'Mm…' Akiyama growled around a mouthful of pseudo-Arrancar. 'That's good.'

A small Hollow darted past; the Espada instinctively incinerated it with a Bala blast. 'Oh. Ah, well, shame to waste it.'

Still guzzling the body of his kill, Akiyama picked up the small, somewhat charred Hollow and shoved it in his mouth around his first meal. 'Crunchy!'

'You are disgusting,' a soft voice chided.

'Aizen-sama,' Akiyama muttered, swallowing his mouthful loudly.

'Yes. I have a mission for you.'

'That was blunt.'

'I have never had any intentions of concealing my real wishes,' Aizen joked.

'You just… made a…'

'I have the occasional attack of levity.'

The first Japanese Espada shook himself and took a large bite from his meal, chewing rapidly. 'So, the mission?'

'I need a watcher in the real world. The Vizards are proving troublesome.'

'In what way?' Akiyama had heard nothing of any pressing problems.

'They've a new recruit.'

'How? They don't have the Hogyoku to create any more.'

'I don't know. It must be a unique natural case, like Kurosaki.'

Akiyama grunted. 'How does one new Vizard make them any more problematic?'

'It doesn't… but just in case. You are our only native Japanese speaker; you will be able to watch them far better. And…' Aizen leaned in close, 'your Zanpakuto is much better than those Spanish-speaking transformers.'

Akiyama almost chuckled. He dropped the remains of the hapless Hollow and opened a Garganta. 'I just watch them?'

'And… deal with any problems that need dealing with.'

'Understood.'

Akiyama stepped into the Garganta and vanished.

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END CHAPTER ONE

A/N: This chapter was just an introduction of (some of) my original characters. Fear not, there will be a proper plot!

I'd really appreciate you taking about ten seconds to press that lovely ol' review button down there! Constructive criticism's always appreciated.


	2. The Overflow

'Good morning, Yamaguchi-taicho!'

'Morning, Momo-chan…' Fudo replied, waving groggily. 'Give me a minute…'

Crossing to a large barrel filled to the brim with water (Momo wondered vaguely where it had come from) the new Squad 5 Captain dunked his head in with a loud splash. He emerged looking an astonishingly great deal more awake, his sopping hair plastered over his face as rivulets of water ran from the somewhat unkempt strands into his haori.

'Um… are you feeling well today, taicho?'

'Very much so!'

'Right. Yes, well, good!' Momo was rather surprised by Fudo's sudden… bubbliness (she knew that wasn't a word, but was the best way she could think of describing his current attitude). 'Erm… so…'

'Whoo…' Fudo shook his head violently, spraying freezing water everywhere. 'Sorry, Hinamori-san.'

'Oh, it's…' Momo flicked a drop from her finger, 'nothing.'

'Ah… I got very drunk last night, didn't I?'

'Yes, taicho.'

'Hmm. Ah, well, a new day awaits!' Fudo shimmered briefly before reappearing, his long Zanpakuto suddenly in its sheath at his side. Momo blinked at the masterful display of flash steps, surprised that he was capable of such a feat having apparently been suffering from the mother of all hangovers less than a minute ago.

'So, what's on the agenda today, my wonderful trusty lieutenant?' Fudo gestured with his left hand as he spoke; Momo noticed a black ring on his middle finger that she was certain had not been there before.

'Oh! Well, erm…' ('Whew,' Momo thought, 'it might be easier getting over Aizen-taicho with HIM around!') 'You have, er… a meeting with Yamamoto-sotaicho… to…' She pulled a small book from her pocket, flipping to the most recent page. She suspected reading it out would be easier - that way she didn't have to look at him. 'Yes, a meeting with Yamamoto-sotaicho to discuss any specific duties or activities you should wish your squad to undertake… and your own duties, of course.'

'When?' Fudo asked.

'Er… any time now.'

Fudo nodded slowly. 'Want to come?'

'I don't know if I can…'

'I'd really appreciate the input,' he wheedled.

Momo sighed. 'Fine.'

'Let's go, then.'

----------

Kiku Okamoto leapt into the air, firing a few spirit arrows from her Hicho Hachidori while upside down - just to see if she could.

'Impressive,' Hoshi told her. 'You Quincies are certainly more agile than us Bounts.'

Kiku laughed. 'It's because you're so old!'

'I think we'd still win in a fight, though.'

'No,' Kiku told her. 'I'm over three centuries older than you - I think you'd die of arthritis or something before you landed a hit on me!'

'Zeige Dich, Komet!'

'Oh. Komet, on the other hand…' Kiku shrugged as Hoshi's Doll emerged. 'Yeah, she might kill me.'

Kiku used Hirenkyaku to its greatest effect, appearing between Komet and Hoshi; reaching for a Seele Schneider she fired it at Komet before spinning and loosing a normal arrow at Hoshi, who flipped out of the way.

'You're getting better!' Hoshi complimented her. 'Don't think you can hurt Komet, though.'

The Doll vanished, a single disembodied fist appearing above Kiku's head and crashing down. Kiku raised Hicho Hachidori, firing off as many shots as she could, but it had no effect. Komet's fist stopped just short of her head and withdrew.

'Ah, well. One day you'll beat me - you'd be more than a match for any Hollow, anyway.'

Kiku retrieved the spent Seele Schneider, grinning. 'I get a bit closer every time.'

'You're only twenty-three, I'm three hundred and seventy-one. I would have thought you'd get the better of me by twenty-six.'

'You're really that old? You look about my age!'

'I'm a Bount… we age even slower than shinigami, if that's possible.'

'Why do you love shopping so much if you're so old?'

Hoshi laughed a girlish giggle that betrayed none of her many years. 'I met a shinigami once… Rangiku she was called. She must be about as old as me, and she shops like nobody's business any time she can get to the real world… I suppose when you live forever, you can see change better. Shopping changes quite a lot over the centuries.'

'Doesn't need to change,' Kiku pointed out. 'It's good enough as it is.'

'Training's good, too.'

'Yes…'

'Shop first, then train?'

Kiku literally jumped up and down with happiness. 'Shop first, then train!'

----------

Fudo flash-stepped into Yamamoto's offices, Momo not far behind. 'Oh!' he smiled. 'Well done, Hinamori-san! Very fast.'

'Yamaguchi Fudo-taicho!'

Fudo instantly lost his happy demeanour. 'Yes, sir!'

'And… Hinamori Momo-fukutaicho.'

Momo bowed quickly.

'I understand we are to talk of my duties?'

'Indeed!' Yamamoto barked. 'Your first one: get rid of the ryoka in Rukongai!'

'Oh. That was quick. I thought…'

'There will be a discussion later; for now, take your men, find this intruder, and destroy it.'

'Yes, sir.' Fudo bowed and flash-stepped away, Momo hot on his heels.

----------

'Hello!' Fudo grinned. 'Who are you, then?'

The ryoka backed away slowly, its eyes fixed on the new captain.

'Go around behind it,' Fudo whispered to the small group of his men behind him. They nodded and flash-stepped away.

'Don't try it,' the ryoka whispered as its fists snaked out.

'Impressive,' Fudo conceded as his group reappeared in midair, all of them struck by the creature's white fist. 'So, er… what are you?'

The ryoka creature was tall and thin, naked of clothes but clad in a thick white exoskeleton, a sword sheathed by its side. Fudo caught a glimpse of a Hollow-like mask on the back of its head whenever it turned slightly.

'Redundo,' it hissed. 'Overflow.'

'Okay, you're called Redundo, that's your name… but what are you?'

'No… my name,' the Redundo whispered, 'is -'

Fudo appeared suddenly behind it, grasping its mask in his right hand. 'Redundo is your species, then. But what are you, I believe is what I asked.'

'Body and soul, joined as one. The opposite of Hollow… the backwards Hollow.'

'Huh. That explains the mask…' Fudo mulled it over. 'So… a Hollow has a hole where its chain of fate used to be… what have you got? An extra long one?' He craned his head to the side. 'No, you've got the Hollow hole as well…'

The Redundo struggled futilely against his powerful grip, its arms flailing. 'Ah! You tried to join your body and soul back together!'

'Correct,' it spat, now clawing at Fudo's arm.

'How?'

'We pushed our chains of fate inside our bodies… and we were joined.'

'That's why you're called Overflows. Because you tried sticking your soul back in a corpse.'

'Yes.'

'What are you doing here?'

The creature's eyes flickered rapidly from left to right as if wondering what to say. 'To kill you.'

The Redundo twisted wildly, now desperate to escape the iron grip of the captain. Momo watched on uncertainly, wondering what was about to happen.

'Shakkaho.'

The Redundo's masked head exploded in the shot of red fire. A fragment of its mask remained clutched in Fudo's hand; he clenched his fist and shattered it.

'Incredible,' Momo gasped, hearing similar exclamations of surprise and admiration from the gathered men behind her. 'Without an incantation… so powerful!'

'Huh. I don't think we need to worry about them,' Fudo mused.

'Um… We need Kotetsu-fukutaicho here, please…'

'Yes, ma'am!' one of the unharmed men said loudly, bowing as he flash-stepped away, towards Squad Four's offices.

'What…'

'No idea. I'm not sure it even meant to come here…'

'But it said…'

'It had to think about it. If it's anything like a Hollow, it probably just wants to kill whatever it finds, wherever it ends up.'

'So how did it get into Seireitei?'

Fudo knelt by the body of the Redundo, poking the ashes that had been its head. 'Some sort of teleport… this is weird stuff. Powerful. Almost shinigami-type reiatsu… no…'

'What is it?'

'It's got dual-type reiatsu. Like the Vizard and the Arrancar.'

Momo felt around with her spiritual senses and realised that her captain was right; although she could only feel traces of the dead Redundo's reiatsu, there was both shinigami and Hollow reiatsu there.

'What's this…?' Fudo unsheathed the sword that had been at the Redundo's side. 'A Zanpakuto?'

Momo removed the sheath from the ryoka's side gingerly, feeling traces of a Zanpakuto-like energy inside it. Cautiously she touched a finger to the blade - and immediately snatched it away as the energy intensified, burning her fingertip. 'Ow.'

'What do you make of it?'

Momo looked up to see Fudo looking at her expectantly.

'It's like… an Arrancar's Zanpakuto…'

'Hm.' Fudo took the sheath from Momo gently, sliding the sword in. 'I think we'd better show this to Yamamoto-sotaicho.'

----------

The Great Redundo Encyclopedia

'Hello and welcome to my "Redundo Question Time!"' Gin Ichimaru greeted, his trademark smile on his face. 'Today we got our first look at the new creatures of Bleach, the Redundo!'

He whipped out his pointer and pulled down a projection screen, tapping an image of the Redundo from earlier. 'As you can see, a Redundo has something akin to a Hollow's mask on the back of its head. It also has a thick exoskeleton made up of the same stuff as its mask.'

The image changed to the word 'Redundo'.

'"Redundo",' Gin explained, 'is Latin for 'overflow'. At least, an online translation said it is.'

'Latin?' Aizen's voice boomed.

'Mm-hm.'

Aizen's face appeared in the projection, looking down at Gin. 'Hello again, Gin.'

'Can you stop hacking my broadcasts, please?'

'No.'

Gin threw a biscuit at him.


End file.
